Short Science Fiction Collection 046

Science Fiction is speculative literature that generally explores the consequences of ideas which are roughly consistent with nature and scientific method, but are not facts of the author’s contemporary world. The stories often represent philosophical thought experiments presented in entertaining ways. Protagonists typically “think” rather than “shoot” their way out of problems, but the definition is flexible because there are no limits on an author’s imagination. The reader-selected stories presented here were written prior to 1962 and became US public domain texts when their copyrights expired. (Summary by Gregg Margarite)

Reviews

Classic Sci Fi stories

(4 stars)

Dennis Murray

A fascinating set of stories well read by all the volunteers. From horrible and deadly aliens to fabulous civilisations there is an array of great imagination on display here. But for me the pick is The Great Accelerator - yet another example of HG Wells at his intelligent and creative best.

(5 stars)

Number 6

A good collection of classic sci-fi. Most are read quite well. I particularly enjoyed Vince Dee's reading of C. C. Beck's "Vanishing Point". Beck, the co-creator of the comic book superhero, Captain Marvel (Shazam), penned an amusing story, and Dee performed it superbly.

awesome shorts!

(5 stars)

love the whole series of sci fi shorts collection

great night time listening

(5 stars)

MustardtheBear

love the stories! good readers as well

Great collection of stories.

(4.5 stars)

Ashley

Nice verity.:-)

Mostly pulp

(3 stars)

Mark Joseph

A lot of “Golden Age” science fiction is simply not worth reading. This is *not* because there aren’t enough women or (fill in your preferred underrepresented group here). It is rather because the ideas are often dull, the “science” is frequently silly, and the writing is usually abominable. After all, there’s a reason why the pulps have the reputation they do. They may (and this is a good thing) have been emphasizing story over politics—but the stories were far too often not that good. This anthology is a good example—four stories (“The Gate to Xoran,” “Made in Tanganyika,” “The Planet of Dread,” and “Vanishing Point”) were enjoyable; one was so silly and so bad that it was moderately enjoyable in an MST3K sort of way—and the rest were just awful; so bad that not even Mark Nelson’s narration could save them. My recommendation? If you’re interested in pulp-era science fiction at all, listen to the four stories I listed above, and skip the rest.

good but with flaws

(4 stars)

null

most of the stories were really well narrated but, I just could not stand the accent in an amber rock story. The female voice sounded terrible with an Indian male voice trying to copy it. This narrator completely ruined the story for me, the story could not be understood at times.